Hallelujah Hatred
by Sora nii-chan
Summary: AUish. When Vongola IX goes missing, Dino Cavallone is sent to Japan under the guise of being a teacher in order to inform Sawada Tsunayoshi that he will be the new Vongola X. The mission seemed simple enough - until he met Hibari Kyoya, anyway. D18
1. Missione

**Disclaimer: **If I owned it, there would be a lot more Ho Yay (**Homoeroticism, Yay!**) in the story in general. And it's already overflowing, so just imagine it ten times more explicit and even more obvious.

* * *

The day was dark and stormy, which wasn't exactly the most common sight in Italy, but it seemed to be reflecting the mood surrounding the Cavallone mansion. It was raining heavily—not quite a downpour, but it beat against the windows without mercy, creating a drumming pattern. Lightning and thunder struck at intervals; not close by, but not entirely far away, either.

A sinister, almost evil aura seemed to be hanging around the lavish estate, and all the guards standing watch seemed to be worried, and kept glancing back at the manor behind them. Indeed, today was not a good day.

"Romario, tell me again why I need to do this?"

The bespectacled, black-haired male surveyed the blond before him calmly before straightening his tie in an almost compulsive manner. "It is only right that you attend your mother's funeral, Boss," he attempted to reason, causing the younger male to sigh.

"Actually, I was talking about this paperwork," he responded, frowning at all the documents before him that needed signing. "However, on that note, I'm still in debate. _Mamma_ was a good woman, and I loved her dearly, but _babbo_ was not the only reason the Cavallone _Famiglia_ was in debt before I took charge," the boy pointed out, avoiding the real issue but still making his point clear.

Yes, it had been well known that the wife of the ninth generation Cavallone boss had been inflicted with a gambling addiction, though it was rare for her son to bring it up. The blond looked up from his dreaded paperwork, all too glad to have a serious distraction from it, even if the topic was not his favourite.

Romario approached the desk slowly, his posture perfect as he stood still, obviously thinking over his Boss' words. "You've been asked to send word by this evening regarding your mother," was what his bespectacled subordinate finally decided on.

The brown-eyed male didn't seem all that happy to hear such, and he ran a hand through his messy blond hair. "Inform them that I will be there then," he decided, if not lacking in enthusiasm.

However, Romario merely bowed slightly. "Yes Boss." And then he was gone, off to relay this new information. Meanwhile the blond remained at his desk, forced to continue his paperwork. A particularly loud crack of thunder sounded just then, followed by a flash of lightening, and along with the heavy rain, one could just barely hear the curses emerging from the study. "I am Dino Cavallone, tenth generation boss of the Cavallone _Famiglia_! I shouldn't be stuck here doing _paperwork_!"

His exclamation was followed by a loud thud and a drawn out cry of pain. After all, it was well known that without his family members, Dino was horribly clumsy and had no hope when it came to...well, anything. "Enzo, when did you get in here...?"

* * *

The funeral was a large but muted affair. Nearly everyone in the Cavallone _Famiglia_ attended and even others who were not in the family, which meant quite a crowd—one of over six thousand, taking into consideration the fact that they were the third most influential family in the mafia world.

Though the storm had settled down long before, the rain hadn't ceased once in the week since Dino had agreed to attend—common for November; and he stood under a black umbrella, his funeral suit crisp and clean, but worn. After all, funerals were a common thing when one worked in the mafia.

At least she had simply died of old age—if forty-five could be considered old. Dino was only twenty-two himself, but he'd lost his father many years ago, in a fight between _famiglie_. He watched silently as his mother's coffin was buried, but he did not—would not—cry. As the Boss, he had to be strong, and show that strength to his subordinates; to his family.

It was a long funeral, half in part due to the thousands of people there, and the blond was forced to spend nearly _five hours_ standing where he was and accepting condolences from people concerning his loss. Dino had to wonder how many of them actually felt anything, and how many offerings came from the heart.

But the mafia business was a cruel business; the boy had known that from the time he was born. It was a life he had grown up in, and it was a life he would die in.

The event drained the twenty-two-year-old, and as he got into the backseat of his car, he let out a long, dramatic sigh, loosening his tie and leaning his head back. The car started up, and Dino lifted his head, meeting the gaze of Romario, who was driving, through the rear-view mirror.

"Don't go home," the brown-eyed male instructed, despite the fact that he wanted to go check on Enzo, as he felt guilty that he'd had to leave him at home. "Take me to see Iemitsu."

The Cavallone _Famiglia_ was part of the Vongola _Famiglia_ Alliance, and Iemitsu Sawada was the Outside Advisor of the Vongola _Famiglia_. He was a friendly man, and often made a point to drop in and see Dino whenever he could.

However, he had not attended the funeral, which worried the twenty-two-year-old, but as the car approached the Vongola manor, the Cavallone boss suddenly understood exactly why.

The outside of the mansion was in utter _chaos_. That was the only word the boy could think of to describe what he was seeing. There didn't seem to be any damage, which was good, but everyone seemed to be running around in something of a panic, not un-similar to a chicken with its head cut off.

For a moment Dino considered leaving, but when he caught a glimpse of Iemitsu through the crowd, the blond quickly told Romario to stop the vehicle—and without waiting for him to listen, the Bucking Horse flung open his car door, jumping out and hitting the ground rolling, even as his driver/subordinate quickly screeched to a stop.

"Boss!" the older man cried, but the Cavallone paid him no heed, instead running directly into the crowd of people, pushing past them as they jostled him about. "Iemitsu!" Dino called out, though quickly let out a curse of frustration at the fact that the older blond did not seem to hear him.

"Iemitsu!" he repeated, louder this time. And finally did the Young Lion of the Vongola _Famiglia_ turn, the recognition clear on his bearded face as he made his way toward the younger boy.

The two met in the middle of all the panic, but Iemitsu quickly grabbed Dino tightly by the arm, ignoring the blond's slight flinch of surprise and pain, dragging the twenty-two-year-old toward the outside of the crowd, raising his voice above the din.

"Why are you here?" the Outside Advisor asked, his voice gruff, though not unkind. Dino blinked, his eyes widening. "Well, I was...I think I came at a bad time. What's going on? I haven't heard anything about this."

That was definitely the most confusing part, as normally when bad situations rose up, _famiglie_ called their allies; and yet there had not been a single word this time.

Iemitsu finally stopped dragging Dino once the two were standing by the Cavallone's car, but he avoided eye contact with the boy, a fact that was not missed on the young blond, though he kept it to himself. The bearded male straightened his tie almost awkwardly, and for a moment, his demeanor seemed almost depressed, but before the brown-eyed boy could question such, it vanished, and the Young Lion stood tall, all traces of doubt gone.

"Yes, normally we would call for assistance, but the situation at hand is...not only was the problem only discovered this morning, it's also not exactly what one would consider the standard."

"What do you mean?"

"I shouldn't say—but I trust you, Dino, and I may need your help. It's about Vongola IX," Iemitsu began, speaking slowly.

"Vongola _Nono_? Is he alive?" The question was never "is he okay?" When one was in the mafia, injuries could usually be healed—death was another matter entirely.

Unfortunately, the Cavallone's question was not given a satisfactory answer. "We're not sure," Sawada replied. "However, we discovered that the one who was giving orders currently is actually a fake. We have no idea where Timoteo is at this moment in time."

"A fake?!" Dino asked incredulously; instantly denying the accusation in his head.

But Iemitsu did not take it back, instead giving a short nod of his head. "We're currently looking for Vongola IX, but until then, the Vongola _Famiglia_ is without a head."

Dino stared in shock, absorbing all the information, if not quite comprehending it. "But...there was an heir in mind, right?"

The bearded male gave a word of assent. "Vongola IX isn't as young as he used to be. Though we have no idea when he first went missing, I know he was considering who to choose as his heir."

"And did he ever choose?" The younger blond asked, a hint of desperation entering his tone.

"Well...no," Iemitsu confessed. "But we only had so many candidates, and many of them had rather...untimely deaths. That leaves only two choices."

"And they are...?" Dino enjoyed the male's company, and he understood that the Vongola _Famiglia_ had taken a huge blow with this new information, but the way the Outside Advisor couldn't just seem to tell the boy the whole story all at once was driving him crazy.

"The first is Timoteo's adopted son, Xanxus. The second is my son, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Xanxus was a familiar name to the Cavallone; a very familiar name, even if he did not know the man well (though what he did know of him was enough information that he instantly rejected the thought of Xanxus becoming Vongola _Decimo_), but the latter was completely lost on him.

"You have a son?" was in all honesty, the first and foremost question he could think to ask.

Despite the seriousness of the situation and the tenseness in the air, Iemitsu stared at the Bucking Horse for a moment, blinked, and then threw his head back and laughed without abandon, an action that had the brown-eyed male extremely confused.

The twenty-two-year-old opened his mouth to ask just exactly _what_ was so funny, but the bearded blond beat him to it, having finally stopped laughing, attempting to get his composure back.

"Yes Dino, I have a son, and I'm very proud of him, though I haven't seen him in many years."

"Why not?" slipped out next, being the only logical question the blond saw fit to follow his first inquiry.

"He lives in Japan with my wife, Nana."

"Japan!" The Cavallone exclaimed. For some reason, it hadn't even occurred to him that Iemitsu had been to Japan despite the fact that he knew the older male was Japanese.

"Yes; and..." Sawada trailed off for a moment to glance back at the crowds of _Mafioso_ still running around outside, as if unable to get their bearings, and the bearded male thought about it for a moment, before turning back to Dino.

"Let's discuss this at the Cavallone estate, alright? Here isn't the best place for such talk."

It sounded reasonable enough, and so the two got into the tenth boss' car, the young blond instructing Romario to take them home.

* * *

Dino and Iemitsu sat in the living room of the Cavallone manor as Romario served them _caffè_, both blonds rather quiet; which for anyone who knew them, was a rare thing indeed.

"So you're telling me," the Bucking Horse broke the silence first, "that you want _me_ to go to Japan and look after...Tsuna, you called him?"

"That's right."

"But that's crazy! I've never been to Japan before! I don't even speak Japanese!" Dino protested.

Iemitsu sighed, running a hand through his short, ruffled blond hair. "Yes, I realize that. And that is why I am going to teach you."

The younger blond blinked. "What if I decide not to go?"

The Young Lion chuckled, smiling almost ruefully at the Cavallone. "I know you, Dino. And I know you'll say yes."

Well, Iemitsu had him there. For a long moment, silence reigned supreme throughout the household, but then the Bucking Horse hung his head in an almost regretful manner.

"Okay, I'll do it."

The older blond broke out into a grin, looking fairly satisfied considering the situation at hand. Of course, this was a crucial matter; a very serious issue, and the fact that he was entrusting it to the Cavallone meant more than the twenty-two-year-old possibly realized.

But still, the boy didn't quite need to know that.

"Now, Tsuna attends Namimori Middle School..."

And as the onslaught of information began, Dino groaned slightly, though continued to pay attention. He was sure Iemitsu's kid was nice, but honestly the boss didn't think he was the right person for the job—but the Outside Advisor wanted him to do it, and so the Cavallone would.

But still. Did Japanese have to be so difficult?!

* * *

**Notes:** Translations not provided, because I'd like to think that the words speak for themselves. If not, use a translator or something, you're intelligent people. Only Italian was italicized this chapter. This story will turn into an eventual D18, so be prepared for that, however long it takes. Hibari won't be coming into for a few chapters, though. So, feel free to drop a review, I'd love to know what you think!


	2. Inizio

**Disclaimer:** We should all hope and look towards the day where man realizes that the sounds exiting his mouth are mostly complaints and a change occurs. I don't own Reborn!, or Chevelle.

* * *

  
He bid farewell to Iemitsu at the airport, Enzo tucked away securely in his jacket and Romario the only subordinate standing by his side—which admittedly, felt a bit lonely. Dino hated being away from his family members and would have allowed more, but the Young Lion of the Vongola _Famiglia_ had warned him to keep his head low.

Unfortunately that meant leaving his subordinates behind, as they tended to stand out. But as the blond would be a complete klutz without at least one man, Romario had been permitted to come along.

It had been nearly four months since Iemitsu's request, and the bearded male had trained the Cavallone well during that time. Likely, it would have continued on, if not for the fact that the blond needed to be there by the beginning of the Japanese school year, which started in April. And as it was already late March, they had, to be frank, run out of time.

Of course, Dino still wasn't sure of his grasp on the Japanese language (which was almost pitiful considering how long he'd been training for), and the Outside Advisor was highly amused by the younger blond's strong accent, but it was passable enough.

The Bucking Horse been forced to learn more about Tsuna than a person should be allowed to know (really, didn't Iemitsu believe in his son's privacy? The Bucking Horse doubted the teen wanted other people knowing that he had wet the bed every night until he was ten), and while it felt somewhat invasive, at the same time, Dino felt extraordinarily close to this boy who was apparently as no-good as he'd once been.

He'd never even met Tsuna, and yet in his mind, the middle-schooler was already something like a little brother to him. Of course, once he actually got to Japan, the Cavallone was going to have to slowly get close to the teen and pretend he didn't know him, which would of course take time, and Dino had been given a time limit of a year.

In all honesty, the Bucking Horse still wasn't sure he could pull it off, but he'd try—got damn, he'd give it the best shot he had. And if his best wasn't good enough...well, that wasn't really an option.

The plane was a private one, only big enough to seat four, though only two of the seats were occupied, the other two remaining open, and Dino could not help but stare almost wistfully at them wishing that two more of his subordinates had been allowed to come along so they could fill them.

The flight was sixteen hours long, and when the Cavallone wasn't sleeping, he was thinking. Not about anything in particular—his mind just wandered through random topics over the hours; an ironically mindless way to pass the time.

When the plane finally touched down, the first thing Dino did was take Enzo out of his jacket so the poor thing could get some real, fresh air, hand him to Romario, and stretch impressively before taking the creature back and once more putting it in his jacket, ignoring the fact that it was two in the morning of the next day, or that he'd probably have an impressive case of jet lag by tomorrow.

Though it was late, the Japanese airport was far from inactive, and though the blond knew Japanese, it both prided and shamed him that Romario had picked up on it much easier than his boss, and so the bespectacled male was the one to check with the rental service and ensure that their car had arrived.

It had, and the two left the building, spotting the car sitting by the entrance, waiting for them. After they unlocked it with the keys they had received, Romario slid into the driver's seat, as usual, and Dino got into the back, as always. The car was a Western one, as the bespectacled man did not know how to drive anything else, and the blond had never actually learned to drive (a fact he planned on fixing...one day).

Even while Iemitsu had been training the Cavallone, he'd been preparing for when Dino would finally leave for Japan—that was why the car had been waiting for them, and that was why Romario easily parked the car on the side of the road before they both got out, looking up at the apartment that the two of them would be living in for the next year.

The apartment—well, no, it was a mansion, because Dino had requested a Western-style house, was decent sized, even from the outside, and Romario quickly retrieved their three bags of luggage; Sawada had suggested that they travel fairly light.

The black-haired male had the keys to the mansion, as well, and he began walking toward it, eager to get inside, but the tenth boss instead hovered back, looking around the neighbourhood. It was dark aside from a few streetlights, so really he couldn't make out much of anything, but he was able to note that there were no other cars on the street.

Dino could only assume that it was not the most common sight in the country, especially not in Namimori, but the brown-eyed male was sure it happened. And after all, he and Romario were foreign, so they had an excuse as to why they did what they did; technically speaking, anyways.

Once his subordinate realized his boss was not following him, he turned back to look, a question in his voice as he called to Dino quietly in the night. Blinking as he was torn from his revere, the blond jogged towards his new home-away-from-home, ready to start his new life, in a new place, with his new career.

As he removed Enzo's tank from the luggage, placing it on a nightstand next to his bed and setting him inside it, the mafia boss thought over the current situation at hand, placing food and water into the tank at the same time so his pet would not starve.

Really, the Cavallone hadn't the faintest idea as to why Iemitsu had registered him for a teaching position at Namimori Middle. Sure, that was where Tsuna went, but there had to be other ways of getting close to the boy, right? The blond didn't know the first thing about teaching, and he'd never been particularly good at handling children—especially teenagers.

Of course, it did help that the Bucking Horse was skilled in the subject he'd been assigned to; Moral Education. Well, it wasn't so much that he was skilled as he just happened to be well versed in the topic, but either way, it still helped.

Dino had exactly a week to get his bearings in order and look around Namimori before the school year would start, which he planned to take full advantage of. After all, it wouldn't due to get lost, especially when he was supposed to have been living in the area for the past six months or so. Hopefully they wouldn't comment on the fact that he was a foreigner too much. The blond still wasn't clear on exactly what his excuse was for coming to Japan.

He was sure Iemitsu had made something up, but for whatever reason, he'd kept it from the twenty-two-year-old, and so at that point the most the brown-eyed male knew was that he'd be bumbling through any questions concerning his background. After all, it wasn't like he could come out and say he was there to keep an eye on Tsuna. Not only would they think he was some kind of pervert, he would be totally blowing his cover.

Speaking of covers, the Cavallone did not hesitate to get under his own, snuggling his pillow in a way that was anything but manly, but at that moment, Dino could care less. He hadn't even been away from home for twenty-four hours and already he was homesick for Italy—for his family.

Hugging the pillow was the closest comfort he could get, and slowly did the blond slip into a restless sleep, dreaming that he was back in his homeland.

It was going to be a very long year.

* * *

As expected, the Italian was hit by an impressive amount of jet lag the next morning, and the Bucking Horse could barely muster up the energy to move, let alone talk. His companion had come to wake him, but Dino's eyelids merely fluttered slightly.

"Lemme sleep Romario..." _snore_. Already the boy was gone again, his mind once more pulled back to the land of sleep.

For a moment the black-haired male hesitated, knowing that his boss had planned on running around the city all day, but apparently Dino had forgotten about jet lag and Romario knew it wouldn't do any good to have the blond disoriented for the next few days, and decided to let him continue sleeping.

A subtle smile touched the man's lips as he realized that the Cavallone had kicked off his covers sometime in the night, and so quietly he pulled them back up, bidding his boss a faint good night that Dino would never hear before turning and leaving the room.

Well, Romario knew how important sleep was, but even so, he definitely hadn't expected the blond to sleep for a whole _day_. The next morning found the Bucking Horse bright-eyed and wide awake, no traces of his former lethargic self left as he reached into the tank, pulling Enzo out and placing him inside his jacket, as per usual. Where Dino went, Enzo went.

"Come Romario, we have to explore twice as much today to make up for yesterday!"

Dino's enthusiasm was far from surprising, and the black-haired Italian merely inquired as to whether his boss wanted to take the car, to which the brown-eyed male shook his head almost vehemently.

"Things are best understood when inspected up and close and personal," the Cavallone boss explained, as if such was obvious. And considering that Romario had been by his side since the boy was born, it kind of was.

Namimori fascinated Dino. From the park, to the movie theatre, to the _yakitori_ stand he had passed by on the street, the blond's eyes were wide with wonder, like a child going to an amusement park for the first time, or finding themselves in a candy shop.

As the two wandered, the Bucking Horse now happily eating some _yakitori_ that he'd bought from the stand, Romario continued to look out for Namimori Middle School, as the blond seemed more focused on the Japanese food in his hand, than thinking about why he was in Japan in the first place.

However, to the bespectacled man's surprised, Dino was the one to point out the school, recognizing it from a photo Iemitsu had provided him with; one which was shoved into his back pocket with little disregard to its well being.

Namimori Middle stood proud—well, if buildings could stand proud, but the Cavallone had a feeling if they could, the school definitely would be.

The duo did not enter the premises, instead standing just outside the gate, looking at it. For Romario, it didn't mean much, but for his boss, the school was practically everything, and that fact alone made it important to the older male.

As the black-haired Italian watched the school, he swore he saw a figure standing by one of the upper-story windows before abruptly vanishing behind the curtains, but after a minute and no further movement, it was dismissed as a trick of the light—after all, who would willingly be at school when they didn't have to be?

After that, the two proceeded to once more scope out Namimori, as Dino wanted to be fully prepared when the time came.

The days passed surprisingly quickly, helped along by the fact that studying the city was a fairly time consuming job. And as the first day of school approached, the blond was near positive he knew the city like a native would—inside and out, as well as the back of his hand. At least, that was what he liked to tell himself.

In general, despite the fact that he was stuck away from home, Dino found himself growing truly fond of Japan. It was a beautiful place (though it was nothing compared to Italy, in the young man's mind); peaceful, and Namimori didn't seem to have many problems with the _yakuza_, which honestly, was a relief, as it felt like something of a reprieve from the Cavallone's home life.

But of everything the blond loved about Japan so far, the _sakura_ had to be his favourite. He wasn't sure on the basics of the plant, but they had been blooming since his arrival, and had stunned Dino in the beginning. Italy didn't have anything like it, and the twenty-two-year-old had spent at least ten minutes just staring at the trees before asking Romario about them.

He would have liked to have been able to plant some in Italy, as he felt his homeland deserved such a beautiful creation, but as that wouldn't be for at least a year, he didn't dwell on the idea for very long. In general, the only thing that bothered him about the _sakura_ at all was the fact that the flowers seemed to easily fall off, so when one was walking under them they tended to get in their hair and clothes.

Namely, Dino's hair and clothes; though whenever they did so, Enzo seemed to enjoy chewing on the stray flowers that made their way into the blond's jacket, where the creature resided. But other than that, the mafia boss didn't mind them in the slightest.

When the first day of school finally rolled around, it was the Italian's job as a teacher to be there early in the morning—much earlier than the students, so a meeting could be held and new teachers (such as himself) introduced, and schedules handed out, and all that important information.

After that of course would be the entrance ceremony; where new teachers such as himself were introduced to the students, who would have arrived by then, so not only was it important to arrive early—it was somewhat crucial.

Unfortunately, Dino had no such luck, and ended up sleeping in; for at least an hour, Romario was unable to wake him. Ever since their arrival in Japan, the blond tended to be a heavier sleeper for whatever reason, which was something of a problem, considering he'd already been a heavy sleeper.

Eventually though, his bespectacled subordinate was able to rouse his boss, and the second it registered with the younger Italian that while he was too late for the entrance ceremony, he would late for school itself if he didn't rush, Dino was out of bed in a flash, showering and dressing in under five minutes.

The twenty-two-was wearing extremely casual clothes—cargos, sneakers, a random shirt, with his jacket over it, which he didn't hesitate to shove Enzo inside (much to his poor pet's chagrin, more than likely)—and he was out the door before Romario could comment on such. Hadn't he gotten the memo that he was supposed to dress in a suit, or at least something similar, from Iemitsu?

Apparently not, and as a rule, the black-haired male was not allowed to follow Dino to the school, so he could only watch through the window with a worried look on his face as the blond tripped spectacularly, throwing his hands out so he wouldn't land on his face. Normally Romario would have rushed out to help by that point...but, according to the Outside Advisor, this was something the Bucking Horse needed to accomplish on his own.

The blond tripped a grand total of seven more times on the way to the school, and by the time he got there, the palms of his hands were scraped raw and stung, one of his pant legs had a hole in the knee, and in general he didn't look very presentable.

He was out of time. The male rushed to the principal's office...or at least he would have if he'd known where it was. Students gave him funny looks as he rushed by them in a state of utter disarray, and after having gotten lost several times he finally arrived, somehow, pausing outside the door to regain his breath.

The blond knocked, and then entered without really waiting for a response, only to be greeted by the glares of all the other teachers in the room. It would have been great if Dino had been informed that this was also the standard, but Iemitsu had been more focused on teaching him Japanese itself, not the standards.

Now he wished the older male had actually bothered. The Cavallone began apologizing to them all clumsily, but no one listened. It seemed he couldn't be on time for anything, as _this _meeting was also over, and with the worst first impression ever given, all the twenty-two-year-old could do was shuffle to the side quietly to allow the others to leave the room

In the end, the only man left in the room was the principal, seated behind his desk. Even if that hadn't been obvious, the young male would have recognized him from the information Iemitsu had given him. The brown-eyed male quickly apologized again, but received no kind words, and was merely instructed to come forward.

Dino expected a severe tongue lashing, at the very least, but the principal simply handed the boy his schedule, before telling him to get out and go to his class. The mafia boss did not need to be told such twice. He fled the room quickly, walking in a vague direction before he realized he did not know where to go. Oh, right, the schedule.

Blinking down at the scrap of paper, the blond stopped walking as he struggled to read the _kanji_. If he thought learning the Japanese language was difficult, it had nothing on the writing system. Dino's skill was closer to an elementary school student's than anything else, and he was unsure how he was fit to teach middle-schoolers with his own lack of real Japanese education.

After all, with the boy's shameful skill when it came to the Japanese language, even a four month long crash course wasn't enough to teach him how to read properly.

It took about ten minutes for Dino to even come close to understand what the paper said, by which time he was pretty much late in every way, and for the few students milling about the halls, he got many second glances. But the Italian hardly noticed such, instead focused on the fact that he was _late_. Panicking, the blond took off running, looking around for the first room he'd been assigned to.

It seemed to take forever, and the hallways were all but empty. His running beat a noisy pattern against the ground, and it was with a startled realization that the twenty-two-year-old suddenly recalled that he'd forgotten to take his shoes off. But that wasn't his biggest problem at the moment, so the twenty-two-year-old pushed the matter aside, searching wildly until he spotted the right classroom.

To the male's alarm (though not to his surprise), he saw that the classroom was already full; but it was too late to do anything about that. Calming himself down with a deep breath, the blond entered the room, walking over to his desk and sitting down behind it, taking Enzo out of his jacket (luckily undamaged despite all Dino had been through) and setting him on the surface of the desk.

For a brief moment, the blond hesitated. Hadn't he been supposed to ask them to stand up or something? But after a moment the Cavallone dismissed the thought, as despite his intense training, memorizing the Japanese customs had _not_ been his forte. Though at the very least, he was better at them than his memorization of kanji.

The students said nothing for an almost agonizing minute, just staring at their obviously foreign teacher and the _thing_ he had just taken out of his jacket. And Dino just stared right back at his students, appraising them as a whole.

Ah! There, near the middle of the room, that was Tsuna! He'd expected Iemitsu to pull such a trick. Not only was he the Moral Education teacher, but this was his Homeroom class, and he'd have to talk to them all one on one at times, for random things—or so he'd heard.

He noticed then that Tsuna was raising his hand almost timidly, and the blond quickly called on him. Fidgeting slightly, the brunet stayed silent for a minute, but as Dino waited patiently, the teen eventually spit it out. "_Sensei_...why...is there a turtle on your desk?"

Surprised by the question, but amused by the spiky-haired boy's apparently demure nature, the Italian answered easily, exhrplaining "because he's the class pet, of course." He hadn't missed a beat, seeming to think his response was obvious. "His name is Enzo." His students balked slightly at this, clearly confused by their teacher's words, but the Bucking Horse paid them no mind, instead standing up and placing his hands on the desk.

"Now, for introductions; it's nice to meet you all. I'm your Homeroom teacher, and I also teach Moral Education." He smiled almost disarmingly at the teens, causing them to stare once more. "I'm Dino Cavallone, and I'm pleased to say that we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

* * *

**Notes:** Translations for Italian again not provided, as well as Japanese, because I really do like to think of you all as intelligent people. Out of curiosity, did anyone realize who made a cameo-non-existent-but-still-there appearance? If it makes you feel any better, he comes in officially next chapter. Reviews _highly_ appreciated, whether it be flames or constructive critisism, or even better yet, compliments!


	3. Allodola

**Beginning Notes:** I am _so_ sorry this is so late. I really am. I could give off many excuses, but the biggest problem was my computer was broken for well...a long time, and with it my files for this story – but I've retrieved them now, so for anyone still actually following this, I'm happy to present y'all with a new longer-than-usual chapter of Hallelujah Hatred. Translation notes follow at the end.

**Disclaimer:** Me no own, you no sue. Lemme go for the clichés this time around.

* * *

The day had been a...relative success, Dino decided as he lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a faint smile on his face. Even if relative was a...relative term. His class probably thought him a bit odd, especially considering his state of dress (of which Romario had handed him the memo concerning such when he returned home), his utter clumsiness, and the fact that he brought a _turtle_, of all things, to school with him.

But Enzo seemed to have enjoyed it too. The creature preferred to be able to wander around like it had in the Cavallone mansion (for the most part), than be stuck in a tank, or Dino's jacket, though the latter at least meant he was mobile.

Of course the turtle's wandering space had been limited to the span of the blond's desk, but it beat nothing. Tsuna hadn't taken his eyes off the Italian's pet once throughout the class, and the same had held true for all the other students the Bucking Horse had under his jurisdiction.

Enzo was just a fascination for them, it seemed; not that their new teacher wasn't. With his foreign looks and strong accent, more than one student had pried into his background. But the most Dino could say with confidence to them was that he was from Italy.

He'd also managed to make up some half-assed excuse about how he'd needed teaching experience in a foreign country. Luckily his students had seemed to buy it easily enough, which had allowed the Cavallone to heave a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if that was the same excuse Iemitsu would have provided him with, but it was the best he was able to come up with on his own. Thus for now, it seemed that the brown-eyed male could rest easy. Hopefully, it would last.

Though the twenty-two-year-old had focused his attention more on Tsuna, for the few times a day he saw the boy, there were other students that had been able to catch Dino's eye, as well. For example, Yamamoto Takeshi, the baseball star of the school.

The boy honestly didn't seem entirely aware of his surroundings and the mafia boss felt he could associate with him on a personal level, as they both seemed to suffer from having an elementary Japanese reading education, though admittedly the boy's guessing skill was somewhat impressive in its own right.

Really, the only time the Japanese teen ever focused was when it involved baseball. In a way, it was extremely amusing, if not somewhat frustrating.

However, Yamamto was a friendly and carefree person; easily likeable, and the Italian felt that if he wasn't stuck being undercover, the boy was someone he would get along with just fine. He also felt that the black-haired boy could be good friends with Tsuna, except...no one seemed to _be_ friends with his pseudo little brother, which worried Dino.

But that was a problem that could be solved for another time. Another student has also caught his attention; mainly because when Tsuna was not staring at Enzo, he was staring at _her_. Sasagawa Kyoko seemed to be a sweet girl, the faux teacher thought, though didn't really seem to notice that Sawada existed at all, for the most part. She knew his name—that was about it.

She was polite though, quiet and yet social, easily making friends; and Dino could see why the boy liked her. Kyoko might not have the first person the blond would pick out in a crowd, but maybe if things worked out in his favour, he'd be able to convince the brown-haired boy to actually talk to her, for once.

That day was probably a long way away though, and thinking of Kyoko always led the Bucking Horse to think of another student in the school. He was not in any of Dino's classes, but as Sasagawa Ryohei was Kyoko's older brother, it was common to see him around.

A notable trait of Ryohei's was—aside from the fact that he was a boxing fanatic and obsessed with anything he found "extreme"—that he seemed to be one of the few people who actually noticed Tsuna, and whenever the older teen was around, he constantly pestered the poor boy to join the boxing club, of which the elder Sasagawa was a proud member.

But the timid boy always rejected the enthusiastic fifteen-year-old, though whether it was because he was scared or something else, Dino wasn't entirely sure; nor did he know just why Tsuna had attracted the attention of his _senpai_, and he didn't feel it was his place to ask. Either way, Sasagawa never did seem to take the hint, always asking the boy the next time he saw him as well.

For some reason, it amused the blond to realize that he'd learned all that about his students in only one day (though Sasagawa Ryohei wasn't actually his student), and he rolled over on his side, debating whether he should take a nap. It had been surprisingly fun being a teacher, yes, but the task had drained him. Like he'd thought, he wasn't designed to keep up with so many teenagers at once.

Saying that made him feel old; and the Italian made a face, shaking his head as he took the words back in his head. After all, he hadn't been a teenager so long ago himself. Of course while everyone said Dino could be somewhat childish in his own right, by the time the blond had been a teen, he was already the tenth generation Cavallone boss, so it wasn't like he knew what _normal_ teens did on a day-to-day basis.

And it wasn't only that, but the blond highly doubted that any of his students had childhoods anything like his. Some of theirs might not have been easy, such was a way of life, and he could sympathize, but it just...wasn't the same. Nor should it be. Dino never wanted anyone to go through what he had.

For some reason, it hadn't occurred to the Bucking Horse until just then that if he succeeded in telling Tsuna about the mafia and his bloodline, and if Vongola _Nono_ was not found, the teen would have to become the tenth generation Vongola boss, not un-similar to Dino's own case, with only one or two major differences.

The brown-eyed male sat up then, too disturbed to sleep, as he thought it over. Could he place that burden on a young child? Well he'd done worse—the mafia was a dirty business after all—and it had been Iemitsu's request but...Dino shook his head. It wasn't the time to be thinking such thoughts.

No sooner had he told himself that then his cell phone started ringing, startling the blond spectacularly, as noted by the fact that he let out a wild cry and crashed to the floor. Romario had gone out to buy groceries (his boss had advised against it, but since they didn't exactly have food...), so no one came running, and the Cavallone instead groaned, reaching into his jacket and pulling out his phone.

He opened it and placed it to his ear, offering a muffled "_ciao_" in greeting. To his surprise, it was Iemitsu, and Dino sat up on the floor, sounding much more cheerful now. Of course it made sense that the older male would call—he'd want to know all about how the boy's first day at school went, to make sure things were running smoothly.

"What's up?" The twenty-two-year-old asked; a question Iemitsu was only all too happy to answer. "We have a problem." The twenty-two-year-old blinked at that, tilting his head to the side in confusion as he was thrown for a loop by the unexpected words. "A...problem?" the boy asked.

"A big problem," the older blond said firmly, taking Dino's silence as confirmation to continue. "Basil has informed me that Namimori Middle will soon be receiving a transfer student, into _your_ Homeroom class."

"Okay..." The Cavallone wasn't really sure why that was a problem, even if it was a little unusual that the year had only just started and such was occurring. But apparently the Young Lion wasn't done talking.

"Well, he's a member of the Vongola _Famiglia_, so of course he knows of the problems that are going on...however, he somehow learned about Tsuna, and rejects the thought of him becoming Vongola _Decimo_. He's coming to Japan to kill Tsuna."

"WHAT?" Dino's question was so loud that Enzo withdrew into his shell quickly, and the birds chirping outside the window took off without a second thought.

Iemitsu either was not affected by the volume of the blond's shout, or he pretended not to be. "He'll be there in a few days, maybe less. His name is Gokudera Hayato, and his plan, if he succeeds in his attempt, is to become Vongola X himself."

The Cavallone was still somewhat in shock from this new revelation, and he stared blankly for a minute, the Outside Advisor's voice calling his name repetitively until Dino finally snapped out of it. "Okay...okay. I got it," he assured Iemitsu. "I'll look out for Tsuna; make sure he doesn't get killed."

The blond had no idea if his words actually comforted the Japanese male, but the Young Lion seemed at least marginally soothed, and he thanked Dino quickly before hanging up, the twenty-two-year-old letting out a sigh as he put his phone back in his jacket.

It was somewhat depressing, how they in the mafia could speak of death in such a casual manner, but that was the way things went. There was no glorifying such a dirty business.

The Bucking Horse didn't bother to get up after that, instead remaining on the floor as he thought over Iemitsu's words. Gokudera Hayato...Dino recognized the name; the boy's title was "Smokin' Bomb Hayato" due to his choice of weapon (dynamite..._wonderful_). His father was mafia, but the Cavallone _Famiglia_ was not allied with them. He was slightly more familiar with the boy's sister, Bianchi (also known as Poison Scorpion), and feared for his stomach whenever she came into the picture. The woman could not cook to save her life.

However, in general Dino wasn't entirely well associated with their family. The most he really knew of Smokin' Bomb was that the boy had been the result of an affair, and as an illegitimate child, he was something of an outcast—something that was only helped along by the fact that he was of a quarter-Japanese blood.

The brown-eyed male had never actually met the boy properly; had only seen him once to date, and only in passing. It had been at least four or five years ago, quite a few years after Dino had become the tenth generation Cavallone boss. The most the male remembered was silver hair and an explosive temper. He remembered being surprised, especially since the child had only been ten, at best; likely even younger.

He wasn't sure on the boy's age, either, but since the Italian-Japanese was coming into his class...well, it was possible he'd lied on the transfer papers, but the blond had a feeling that the teen really was only fourteen, just like Tsuna. Young, yes, but no less dangerous.

However, though the blond was not afraid—no, not afraid, never afraid, at least that was what he had to; _needed_ to tell himself—he _was_ worried for his little brother. Of course he could take care of the boy, and he had confidence in his own abilities, but the appearance of Smokin' Bomb could possibly destroy the mission completely. Not only was it Tsuna's life, but the entire operation was also at risk.

The only reason Dino got up off the floor at all was the turning of the door handle, signalling Romario's return from the store. And while normally the blond told his subordinate almost anything and everything, the male found that not only had the day been draining in itself, but the new influx of information had wiped him completely of all his energy.

So instead, the brown-eyed boy merely got back into his bed, rolling over onto his side and pulling the covers over his head so he wouldn't have to speak to the bespectacled Italian. In his mind, it was something of a cowardly move, but Dino's thoughts were all currently in disarray. He didn't even know what to say.

* * *

The next day...was even more hectic. One would think, that since the overall flow of things had been established, things would calm down, but apparently Namimori Middle defied all conventional thoughts.

But that was only at the school. Prior to the event, Dino had felt that he was quite prepared to face the day. He'd finally read the memo Iemitsu had given him, which specifically stated that yes, the blond was supposed to dress in a suit, or at least formally, and so he had, though it reminded him too much of the mafia, and so the Cavallone loosened his tie.

It was the least he could do, after so many years of wearing such an outfit. He much preferred to go casual when he got the chance. But, rules were rules, and the brown-eyed boy really didn't want to receive another round of death glares from the other teachers.

Of course the fact that he was younger than all of them and foreign probably didn't help anything...huh. Why hadn't he thought of that before? Mentally marking down all the other instructors as his enemies (a habit that came with his original territory), Dino once more stowed Enzo away, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

Though he hadn't wanted to, the blond had informed Romario of the situation with one Gokudera Hayato. Though the boy had not arrived yet and so the plan was not yet in danger of being compromised, everything was still put on high alert. Admittedly, such a task was made more difficult with a force of only two people, but Dino had been in worse scraps.

But that problem was not the main one at the current time; the real commotion to happen later that day was simply laying in wait, and chose to pounce several hours after school began. The day had been off to an excellent start—the blond had only tripped five times on the way to school, his suit was only slightly ruined, and his students weren't giving him such weird looks anymore, as if they had adjusted to his presence.

Today, his standard class with Tsuna wouldn't be until a bit past nine in the morning, so he was more looking forward to that time frame than the first class he had to teach. It wasn't that he didn't like the other classes; it was just that his job focused on the brown-haired teen, and Dino found himself growing fond of the no-good boy.

Nine came; Yamamoto was not in class, because the baseball club was busy practicing for an upcoming game, so Dino wasn't worried about that. Apparently, normally such a practice would take place after school, but it was an important game, and so the blond did not question it. It helped that he could see the baseball club from their classroom, so he could keep an eye on his student and teach at the same time.

But at around ten in the morning, the first step of the pandemonium that would strike that day stepped up to bat, if you'll pardon the pun. Dino wasn't a great teacher—it wasn't that he was bad, but he wasn't designed for such a job; he was a mafia man. As such, whenever he got the chance he allowed the students to self-study, while he sat behind his desk and watched them all.

Some would call it lazy; the blond called it self-preserving. If he attempted to teach them more than he could, it was possible that some of the sharper kids would realize that he wasn't actually an instructor, and call him out on it. Of course the Cavallone could deny such a claim, but it was hard to deny the one truth that was constantly smacking you in the face.

However, that's getting off track. So while his class studied, Dino eventually got bored with watching them, and instead let his gaze wander toward the window to check on the baseball club.

He knew Yamamoto's passion lie with baseball. He'd discovered such a fact yesterday, and as he looked down at the boy from the classroom, it was obvious to him that there was no time the teen was happier than when he had a baseball bat in his hand.

The teen had stepped up to the plate and readied the bat to swing. The Italian had never seen the black-haired boy in action before, and so he was curious. Baseball wasn't really an interest he had ever pursued (it was amazing what being in the mafia made one miss out on), but he didn't have anything against it.

He watched as the ball was thrown...and suddenly Dino couldn't see Yamamoto anymore. It wasn't that he'd looked away, but the pitch had been quick, and while the blond's eyes had followed it easily, no sooner had it reached where the Japanese stood than the teen was suddenly surrounded by his teammates and coach.

Instantly worried and forgetting that he was both a teacher and currently in class, the Italian stood up, all but bolting over to the window and peering down at the grounds. As he attempted to get a look at what was going on, a brief thought crossed his mind: Why did most Japanese have to have dark hair? Iemitsu had blond hair! Wait, was Iemitsu even Japanese? He was, right?

But that was getting off track again; didn't even matter at the moment. The reason for his frustration involving hair colour was simply because _everyone_ on the baseball team seemed to have black hair, and since they were all in uniform it was next to impossible to make out Yamamoto until five minutes later when the group backed away, instead forming a circle around their teammate, who simply sat in the middle, nursing his arm gingerly.

He had an almost sheepish smile on his face and seemed to be apologizing, but Dino had seen enough injuries in his time to know that the teen's arm was broken in at least two places. It would heal of course, but definitely not in time for the upcoming game—not in time for the next _five_ games.

The Bucking Horse had no idea what had happened, and he was so focused on the event below that the blond was completely unaware of the fact that all of his students were staring at him in confusion. The ones closer to the window were smart enough to follow his gaze, but unlike their teacher they had no idea of the severity of Yamamoto Takeshi's injury.

Dino watched quietly as the boy began walking away from the field with the support of two of his teammates—likely to go to the infirmary to learn what the Cavallone already knew. After that he'd likely be sent to the hospital to get his arm properly bandaged up. Once the teen had left his line of sight, the blond sat back down in his desk, sighing heavily before looking up and realizing that all eyes were on him.

"Oh!" The Italian man exclaimed, as if he'd forgotten his students were also in the room, which he had. "Yes, well, I'm sorry to say that Yamamoto—um, _kun_ was injured during practice. I don't know how serious his injury is, but I'm sure we'll know by lunchtime." Okay, so that was something of a lie on his part, but to his limited knowledge of the use of the word normal, Moral Education teachers _weren't_ supposed to know how badly someone was wounded from just a glance.

The news had all his students chattering, though Dino couldn't bring himself to make them stop. As the male attempted to act the part of a real teacher in the meantime, he could not help pausing as the sounds of an ambulance arrived, and the blond made no real effort to stop his students from running over to the windows to watch as Yamamoto was taken away to the hospital.

As the ambulance drove away, an announcement from the principal came over the PA, explaining the situation to the entire school, though Dino hardly paid attention to it, considering he already knew exactly what had happened, and actually could have corrected several details about the man's report, but what was the point of that? Instead he merely asked everyone to once more sit down in their seats, a request they fortunately complied with.

Not long after, the bell rang, and the Cavallone got up to switch classrooms, blinking in surprise as his students stood up from their seats and bowed. Dino wasn't really sure what they meant by it; sure, it was what they were _supposed_ to do, but the Italian had never asked them to perform such a task. Did it mean, perhaps, that they respected him, if even just a little?

A faint smile reached his lips, and Dino chuckled to himself quietly before bowing back at them all, uncaring of whether or not he was supposed to do such as he left the room, humming to himself as he walked down the hallway. While he was worried about Yamamoto, the most the blond could really do was hope that the boy's arm would heal quickly, despite the severity of the injury.

* * *

Time passed, and then it was lunchtime, of which the Bucking Horse found himself back with his homeroom classroom, since apparently he was supposed to eat with them, or some other such nonsense. All the blond really cared about was the Japanese food in front of him. While he missed his home country, Dino thought Italian food had nothing on Japan.

The blond scarfed down the _onigiri_ before him practically faster than he could breathe, but unlike the day before, his students paid no mind to his odd antics concerning food, though Dino still caught one or two of them staring at Enzo as the creature munched contentedly on a few pieces of what looked suspiciously like a dead amphibian.

However, since the blond paid his pet no mind, no one had the guts to ask about it—maybe Yamamoto would have if he'd noticed, but the boy still wasn't back from the hospital. It had been almost two hours, and Dino was starting to worry, but his fears were unfounded, as the boy appeared at the door of the classroom shortly before lunch's end, a weak smile on his face and his arm wrapped in a cast and supported by a sling.

His unexpected arrival caused a bit of a riot among Dino's students, and it took the male several tries to get them back in order, demanding them to allow the baseball star some room to breathe. The black-haired teen rubbed the back of his head with his free hand sheepishly, assuring everyone that he was all right and that the accident had been his own fault.

Once everyone finally returned to their seats, the Cavallone's gaze lingered on Yamamoto, noticing, though not commenting on, the empty look in the boy's eyes. Surely the teen was simply depressed that he wouldn't be able to participate in baseball for awhile. It couldn't possibly anything else. Though Dino tried to assure himself of that, the twenty-two-year-old had a feeling it wasn't so simple.

Of course, it wasn't. It never was. Not even an hour after Yamamoto's return to school, Tsuna burst into Dino's class, panting heavily. "_Sensei_! Yamamoto, h-he's about to jump off the roof!" Stunned, the blond stared at the teen for a long moment. Had it been anyone but Tsuna, and had the Italian not caught the look in the baseball lover's eyes before, he wouldn't have believed it, but...

Telling his class to remain where they were, an order which they of course did not follow, Dino bolted out the door, commanding Tsuna to show him where the roof was. The commotion had, of course, already spread across the whole school, and the blond had to call for students to please move out of his way so he could get to where Yamamoto was.

Upon arriving at the roof, Dino groaned as he realized there was already a large crowd, along with several other teachers as the student in question stood at the ledge, looking for all the world like life had just lost its meaning.

"Hey, Yamamoto!" one student called out, "this is stupid, come back to this side of the fence before you fall!" or jumped, was the unspoken statement that lingered in the air—but instead of listening, the black-haired boy merely shook his head. "With a broken arm, I can't play baseball; there's nothing left for me in the world."

...Okay so apparently life _had_ just lost its meaning. Mind entering overdrive, Dino quickly thought out what few options he had. He could always approach Yamamoto, but that risked the boy jumping, not to mention a fence lay between him and the teen. Talking with him obviously wasn't going to work...what to do...ah!

An idea quickly forming in his mind, the blond turned to Tsuna, grabbing him by the shoulders. The teen let out a pathetic squeal of fright, but Dino ignored the sound, his face serious. "Sawada-kun, can you talk to Yamamoto-kun for me? Try to get him to come down—it's all right if you can't though. At the most, a few minutes of distraction will do."

Confused, but willing, Tsunayoshi shakily nodded, earning a word of thanks from the blond before he dashed off, leaving the brown-haired teen alone with the task he had been given. Taking a deep breath, Tsuna slowly moved through the crowd, positive that Yamamoto wouldn't listen to him, but as he'd agreed to Cavallone-_sensei_'s request, he had to try.

He had almost reached his classmate before he accidentally ran into another student, the action, causing him to fall forward close to where Yamamoto was; and then all eyes were on him, much to the boy's mortification. Surprisingly, however, it was the currently-suicidal teen that turned to glance at the brown-haired boy.

"Tsuna, you wouldn't stop me, would you?" the black-haired boy pleaded with him. "After all, we're alike, you and I." Confused by the baseball lover's words, Tsuna blinked in confused, panic threatening to overtake his emotions. "Um...what?" Yamamoto sighed, looking off into the distance once more. "As someone everyone refers to as 'No-Good Tsuna,' you understand that dying would be better than failing, right?"

Shocked, but not offended, Tsuna shook his head, waving his hands about wildly. "Yamamoto, that's not right! You're an amazing person, and I'm sure you'll be able to play baseball again once your arm heals!" The baseball star, however, looked only slightly convinced, glancing at his arm sceptically as he mulled over Tsuna's words.

"But the doctor said there's little to no chance of recovery..." The timid teen's panic increased somewhat at those words, for he was unsure how to convince his classmate not to kill himself, and his fear of failing at an important time like this was at an all-time high. _Cavallone-__**sensei**__, where are you!_ The boy could do nothing more than ask himself that as he squeezed his eyes shut.

* * *

Currently, Dino was actually busy scaling the side of the school, a feat which he hadn't even dared to attempt until after he'd called Romario and instructed him to stand outside the school grounds—just close enough that he'd be within the blond's line of sight, and that was all the mafia boss needed.

Thus was how the Italian found himself where he was, as impossible at it seemed. While he'd never quite done something like this before, he'd been involved in more dangerous things, and Dino could only urge himself on; the need to reach Yamamoto before anything else happened was his driving force, and if he could not approach the boy the normal way, then this unorthodox method was the best he had.

Luckily the school had plenty of handholds, and the blond was able to scale the building fairly quickly. He peered over the ledge, looking up at his student, who had, to his alarm, taken another step closer to the edge, and he could not hear Tsuna's voice, meaning the boy hadn't succeeded, but at the very least, he seemed to have distracted Yamamoto.

At twenty-two years of age, Dino was in excellent shape, and he managed to swing himself up onto the ledge with little effort before standing up, much to the suicidal teen's shock, and everyone else who was watching the scene. Yamamoto wasn't able to get out more than a "Cavallone-_sensei_—!" before the Italian leaned over, picking up the boy and slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of rice, though he took care not to further aggravate the teen's arm.

"Yamamoto-kun," Dino spoke up, his voice soft; these were words meant only for his student. "Everything is going to be okay. So don't kill yourself over something like this, okay? I swear to you, you'll be back to playing baseball before you know it." The black-haired teen didn't seem all that convinced; his body tense. "Do you mean it?" he asked, tone laced with disbelief, but the Bucking Horse did not hesitate, instead nodding his head. "I do."

With those words, the faux-teacher carefully jumped over the rusted fence, landing gently before placing Yamamoto on his feet next to him. Dino held up one hand to make sure no one approached needlessly as glanced over at the baseball player. "Promise you won't kill yourself?" He asked quietly, extending a hand for the boy to take.

For a long moment, Yamamoto did not move, instead simply staring at the offended appendage, before a smile broke out on his face, and he reached out with his uninjured hand, shaking Dino's hand enthusiastically. "I promise."

And so, the crisis was averted, thanks in no small part to the foreign teacher; though whenever anyone approached him asking how he'd managed to get to Yamamoto, Dino merely laughed and looked away, refusing to answer the question. The Cavallone managed to find Tsuna once more after everyone had calmed down, offering the boy heartfelt thanks. The teen didn't look entirely convinced, but he accepted the praise nonetheless.

Compared to the events of the first half of the day, the second half was excruciatingly boring, dragging on for both teachers and students alike—though Dino readily admitted that given the choice, he'd rather experience boring days for the rest of the year than have to go through all that again. But eventually end the day did, though the blond did not rush home like he had the day before, instead cleaning things up.

It was obvious Dino was simply dawdling his time away, though for whatever reason, even he wasn't entirely sure. Enzo too, seemed impatient to get home, if the way he'd snapped at the corner of his owner's jacket (for the Italian had changed immediately once school ended) was any hint, and yet Dino paid his pet no mind for once.

The longer the blond remained at the school, the closer after-school activities came to ending. He'd sent Romario off not long after rescuing Yamamoto, and had already informed his subordinate that he would likely not return home for many hours after school's end. He hadn't known if such a fact would be true, but Dino often relied on his instinct, and it was his instinct now that was telling him to go to the roof.

Why, he had no idea, but considering the fact that the male had hardly been given time to enjoy the view earlier that day, he simply wanted to go up there; also, it would give him a chance to be alone, as the roof was off-limits to anyone but staff – _especially_ after the event with Yamamoto. Leaving his things in the classroom, Dino proceeded to follow the path laid down before, making his way to the roof, with every intention of leaving after a few minutes.

Of course, the Italian should have learned long ago that things rarely went the way he expected them to, a fact that was all too happy to slap him in the face once he opened the door to the top of the school. As the area was fairly open, Dino's eyes were instantly drawn to the figure out in the middle of the roof, clearly napping.

Their arms were folded behind their head as their chin was tilted up towards the sky, but as they were not looking at Dino, the blond had no idea what the student really looked like. The most he knew was that they were male, with black hair, and pale skin...but that described a lot of Japanese, so really, he wasn't getting very far. But still, whoever they were, all the Cavallone knew was that they weren't allowed up there, and so the Bucking Horse decided maybe it'd be best if he actually tried acting like a teacher.

"Oi, you can't be up here. State your name and class number." That had been what he was supposed to say, right? Though Dino's confidence wasn't exactly sky high, at least, he told himself, he'd tried. But the student either did not seem to hear him, or was simply ignoring him, as the boy just continued his slumber, or at the very least was pretending to.

Well, the blond couldn't have that, so he approached the student, repeating his words, but no sooner had he gotten within ten feet of the sleeping male when suddenly the boy _wasn't_ sleeping anymore, but now on his feet, and instead had somehow entered full attack mode. Out of the corner of his eye, the twenty-two-year-old noticed a small yellow puffball flying off, but before he could get a good look at it, the boy spoke, drawing the Cavallone's attention back to him.

The younger male's voice was low, and he only said one short sentence: "I'll bite you to death." Normally Dino would have disregarded such a threat, as the mafia boss wouldn't have thought that such raging bloodlust could possibly emanate from a middle school student, but the Italian had gotten into enough fights to know the difference, and the way this boy was positioned; his warning, which the mafia boss realized was entirely true; and the fact that he had _weapons_ were more than enough for the blond.

In fact, the moment the boy had moved the Cavallone had put himself on alert, but it had been an instinctive act, and he cursed that detail as he forced himself to calm down again. This boy was a fighter, and the movement would likely have not escaped his eye. In fact, Dino was near sure of that fact, or else he would have been attacked by now. As it were, he probably didn't have much time left before the other male decided to attack anyways.

"Hey now..." the blond started, trying to think of a way to delay the situation, or even better remove it entirely. A large part of him regretted the fact that he had not brought his whip. Yes he was pretending to be a normal teacher, but Dino knew better than anyone that danger had no regard for others and merely popped up whenever it felt like it. Damn Iemitsu! From now on, the whip stayed with the blond, whether the older male liked it or not.

The boy studied Dino intently, but the Cavallone was more focused on the weapons in the Japanese boy's hands. Tonfas...how on earth had he gotten weapons into the school unnoticed? And _why_ did he have them? Of course there were many questions he wanted answered, but the boy looked like his little patience had run out. The questions would not have been answered even if Dino had taken the time to do so aloud; he knew this, and he hadn't even yet looked at the boy's face.

He could tell because the grip on the tonfas had tightened, and before the blond could think of _anything_ to get himself out of his current situation, suddenly the boy was _way too close_ and those tonfa weren't going to hold anything back despite the fact that Dino was a teacher, even if the cover was a lie. With the attack the black-haired male had gone from being ten feet away to less than half a foot between them and with such a small distance the Italian had no choice but to look up at his attacker—and instantly regretted his decision.

He was pale, as noted before; his skin comparable to ivory and flawless like any other Japanese Dino had met, his eyes were a deep gray, with hints of blue and even purple in their depths, and his gaze was blank, betraying nothing except his intent to kill. The blond knew he should have been scared, knew he should be worried that this boy had a look in his eyes that no child his age should, and yet, instead the Cavallone was fascinated.

He blamed his Italian blood (notably romantic, the rest of the world said) for causing him to be intrigued by his current opponent, instead of letting his mafia mind take over. But this boy...he was beautiful. Dino couldn't think of any other word to describe him. Well, no, that wasn't entirely true, but beautiful had been the first. And then came the strike to his jaw.

It could have been a lot more painful, actually, but the blond had managed to move back at just the right moment to avoid a direct blow; surprising considering Romario was nowhere in sight. The hit stung, sure, and his jaw would have a bruise, but the bigger problem was that his attacker had indeed noticed this fact, for he frowned slightly, shifting his grip on his tonfa—likely ready to attack again.

Instead of wisely keeping his focus on the boy's hands, Dino's gaze instead wandered, noticing the band wrapped around the boy's arm. He squinted at the _kanji_, struggling to make it out. The blond was horrible without _furigana_, but the words were neatly written, and they looked slightly familiar...if he had to guess...maybe... "You're Kazeki?" It made sense if it was his last name, right? What else could it be?

For a moment, the unexpected question actually caused the male to hesitate for a split second, a faint "hn?" passing his lips, before the guess was disregarded, and the boy once more swung at Dino—but this time, the blond was prepared for it, and though he knew it would hurt, the Cavallone braced himself for the attack, reaching out with his hands and catching hold of one of the tonfa.

He would be sore later for that stunt, of that the Italian was sure, and the Japanese did not take kindly to the fact that he was down a weapon, since Dino had the one in an iron grip, and likely not even death would make him let go. His only other thought was that, _clearly_, the word wasn't the teen's surname.

In comparison, the twenty-two-year-old wasn't sure of just what said teen thought about this entire scenario, but after several minutes of contemplation, the student relaxed, just barely; enough for Dino to cautiously release his grip on the tonfa, hoping he would not regret the decision—but the teen did not attack again, instead surveying the Cavallone through sharp eyes. "You're not a teacher."

The Bucking Horse started at the accusation, his disbelief obvious. Had this boy really seen through his cover in so short a time? And not only that, but now that the blond wasn't under some form of attack, he realized just how much the boy's voice was affecting him. Really, did his voice have to be so low and...and sultry? Middle schoolers should not have voices that instinctively made Dino want to shiver.

Oh. Crap. The blond's eyes widened as he realized that he had to be at _least_ six years older than this boy, perhaps more. Shaking his head abruptly, Dino attempted to focus on the fact that unless he managed to convince this student otherwise, his being a fake teacher could possibly be revealed to the whole school.

"No, I really am a teacher!" the blond tried, though the black-haired teen's expression remained unchanged—not that the Cavallone had expected him to buy it so easily. "My name is Dino Cavallone, I transferred here from Italy. I teach Moral Education and I'm the Homeroom teacher of class 1-A." There was a slight pause. "Wait a second, why do I have to explain myself to you anyways!"

The boy snerked, though Dino doubted he was actually amused; but at least he'd finally fully lowered his tonfas. Realizing that he wasn't being viewed as a threat, at least for the time being, the blond pressed forward slightly. "What's your name?"

The teen stared at the Italian for a long moment before abruptly walking past Dino, headed toward the door. Obviously, his intention was to leave. As he got closer to the exit, the small yellow puffball from before that the blond had noticed—ah, so it was a bird—fluttered back down, landing on the boy's shoulder and...wait, was it singing the school anthem?

Pushing that detail aside, the Cavallone took a step in the student's general direction; reaching a hand out as if to stop him, despite the fact that they were over ten feet apart. "He-Hey! Wait a minute!" the older male called after him, but the boy didn't stop, instead merely speaking over his shoulder. "A real teacher would know who I was, and no matter what time it is, at school you would be wearing the proper attire. You're lucky that as a Disciplinary Committee member I've decided to overlook this."

Oh. _Fuuki_. That made more sense than the words being his last name...but at least he'd sort of read it right! Maybe there was hope for him yet. Then the boy spoke up again, distracting Dino from his personal victory. "If you're really so curious to know who I am, just ask around," were the teen's parting words, and then he was gone, the door to the roof slamming shut behind him. Dino remained where he was on the roof for several minutes after that, allowing his brain to process everything that had just happened.

Once all the information had been stored away, the blond bolted, hoping with all his might that someone, _anyone_ was still in school. No sooner had he thought such, than did the twenty-two-year-old accidentally run into someone, and though he stumbled back, the male managed to maintain his footing. His victim was not quite so lucky, and already feeling flustered, Dino reached out a hand, apologizing profusely as he helped them up.

Once they were standing again, the blond realized that the one standing before him was Sasagawa Kyoko. Ashamed to realize that he had just knocked over his own student, the Bucking Horse once more started apologizing, but Kyoko just smiled at him, laughing slightly. "It's all right Cavallone-_sensei_, I'm fine."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dino had never been gladder that Kyoko was such a kind and forgiving girl. "That's good, Sasagawa-chan. I hate to ask this of you, but are you particularly busy?" Kyoko blinked at the question, shaking her head. "No, my brother has the boxing club, so I always stay after school so we can walk home together. Do you need help with anything?"

Laughing sheepishly, the Cavallone rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. "Actually I just have a question. Do you know a student with black hair who's part of the Disciplinary Committee? He's also fairly short." At least, that had been the impression he'd given Dino, considering the boy barely came up to his chin. "Oh, and he has a small yellow bird!"

Kyoko tilted her head to the side at the description. "Well most members of the Disciplinary Committee have black hair," she started, causing Dino to inwardly sigh in frustration, "but Hibari-san is the only one with a pet bird; he's the leader of the prefects."

Dino memorized the name quickly—_skylark_—though Kyoko wasn't done. "Did he threaten to bite you to death?" the girl sounded worried as she asked this, though the blond's eyes brightened considerably. "I take it that's his trademark?" he asked, and the teen nodded slightly in response.

Satisfied, the Italian smiled at his student. "Don't worry Sasagawa-chan, nothing happened. I was simply curious as to who he was. What's his first name?" His words obviously appeased the brown-haired girl, and she smiled. "Kyoya; Hibari Kyoya-san, but he doesn't let anyone call him that. Is that all, _sensei_?"

Content that he had discovered the boy's _actual_ name—Kyoya, he told himself, Kyoya—Dino grinned. "Yes, thank you very much Sasagawa-chan!" The blond bid her a short farewell, dashing back to the classroom and picking up his stuff, as well as placing Enzo back in his jacket. Now, the male felt that he could go home.

* * *

Romario was not blind—in fact, though he wore glasses, when it came to his boss he never missed anything, and his gaze _definitely _did not miss the shallow bruise developing on Dino's cheek, nor was he oblivious to the ridiculously happy mood the male was in.

The blond's subordinate was definitely on the right track; the younger Italian had all but skipped home, relishing the way Kyoya's name rolled off his tongue and feeling like nothing could bring him down. Once home, he reported the day's events to Romario, though left out Hibari, as the Cavallone had a nagging feeling that the bespectacled male would disapprove of Dino's interest in the boy.

From the time he'd met the boy, until the blond finally went to bed that night, Kyoya was a prominent thought in his mind. The boy was so...intriguing; so young, yet so eager to fight—a lone wolf if there ever was one, and likely as impossible to pin down as a cloud.

Suddenly, Dino paused, sitting upright in bed as a horrible awareness dawned upon him. The Italian had not come to Japan to interact with Kyoya—he'd come for Tsuna, his faux-little brother, who, he reminded himself, he had to watch out for now more than ever. No, thoughts of pale-skinned, violent Japanese teenagers were dangerous.

As the blond forced himself to calm down, once more settling into his bed, thoughts of Hibari rose to the surface again, unbidden, and Dino grabbed his pillow, hugging it close and smothering his face it in as he squeezed his eyes shut. Yes, the Bucking Horse realized he should not associate with the skylark anymore, but at the back of his mind, the male did not care, and was instead quite anxious to meet the boy again. A low groan issued from the Cavallone's mouth—suddenly, he realized his job had become much more difficult than he'd originally thought.

* * *

**End Notes:** So, enter Hibari, and Dino's new personal hell thanks to such. Oh, how I live for it. Attempted suicide: Also in the manga. Expect more similar parallels with major twists, but I'm also taking creative licence.

**Translations:** Hibari's armband reads "Fuuki." Dino read it incorrectly as "Kazeki" which is made of the same kanji (風/kaze/fuu, 紀/ki), and guessed it was a surname, thus why Hibari paused.

**Preview:** Glimpses of Gokudera. Enough said.


	4. Inseguitore

**Disclaimer: **I've bought a lot of manga over the years—over two hundred volumes, actually. Surprisingly, none of them are Reborn!, so if I've never even bought the manga, why would I own the actual series?

* * *

On the third day of school, Dino found himself in trouble for the tattoos covering his body. He'd never been very good when it came to being lectured, and so the twenty-two-year-old could only stand awkwardly in front of the principal as the elder Japanese reprimanded him, telling him how the designs on his skin were sure to be a negative influence on the students. _Despite_ the fact that the suits he had to wear for his new job meant most of them were hidden.

But apparently tattoos in Japan weren't the greatest things around—something about the _Yakuza_, and how he'd be looked down on, and there was a repeat about being a bad influence on the student's somewhere in there, the Italian wasn't entirely sure. After all, _Yakuza_ was like the mafia, right? Just more open, or something. Same occupation, same affinity for tattoos, he supposed. But honestly, the principal's sermon wasn't much getting through to the male.

Murmuring faint words of assent here and there when he felt the time was right, the blond allowed his mind to wander. It wasn't like he could get the ink removed—well, he could, but the process would be painful and they stood for what he was; his entire life. The fact that he was a Cavallone was shown in the tattoos, and no matter how heavy that burden was at times, the Italian would never allow anyone to efface such. The symbols would stay etched into his skin forever.

The tattoos started on his left hand and travelled upwards his arm, ending at his collarbone, and there was another on his left shoulder blade—but those were just the obvious ones. Dino had several more tattoos on his body that were rarely seen by anyone. Absentmindedly, he lightly touched his hand to his side, the small bit of attention he'd been paying the principal now focused in a completely different direction.

Indeed, the only ones who even knew of the tattoos on his torso amounted to his family; and random lovers that he'd had. The thought of lovers, for whatever reason, caused the blond to once more think of Kyoya, the same boy he'd been trying to _forget_ about since meeting him one day prior.

That was, clearly, easier said than done. The now fully obvious bruise on his jaw line burned, as if reminding him of the events of yesterday; the pain was there, raw and tender, and it didn't help that the accompanying bruise on his hand seemed to throb in response.

But the pain didn't bother him; at least, not to an extreme extent. It was more like an annoying insect, buzzing around his head. Irritable, yes, but simple enough to ignore, which was exactly what he was attempting to do. It was more than he could say for the gray-eyed teen occupying his almost every thought—

Dino suppressed a groan at that moment, upset that his own mind was betraying him whilst simultaneously proving him right. Scratch that—_every_ thought, there was no "almost" about it. _Every_ little thing he did, from the smallest actions to his everyday activities, somehow, always inevitably led back to Kyoya!

The brown-eyed male clenched his teeth together for a moment, willing himself to calm down as he sighed. "Troublesome..." he murmured, already at Failure #8059, or some _ridiculously_ high number like that when it came to _not_ thinking about the Japanese boy. The blond was starting to think resistance was futile, and maybe he should just find a way to _kill_ the boy so there would be no problems.

But the twenty-two-year-old froze instead, quickly snapping to attention; not only because the very _notion_ of killing Kyoya physically pained him, but because the male had just been reminded that no, he wasn't alone in the room, if the way the principal had paused mid-lecture and was fixing Dino with a hard stare was any hint.

"What was that, Cavallone-_sensei_?"

Oh shit, had he spoken out loud? Clearly, he had, because the principal was now looking at him rather expectantly, a frown still on the older male's face as he waited for Dino's response. There was also a chance, the blond realized, that he'd accidentally spoken in Italian, as well, caught up as he was in his thoughts. And it was highly unlikely that the principal had _any_ idea what "_fastidioso_" meant.

Laughing awkwardly as he rubbed at the back of his head—a nervous habit he'd had since he was very young—the young adult had the decency to look outwardly contrite, though on the inside he couldn't have cared less; it was quite obvious the man before him didn't care for the Italian in the least, as Dino was practically the embodiment everything he was against.

A job was a job, though, and no matter how much the tenth generation Cavallone boss shared the sentiment, he wasn't allowed to show such. Getting fired would have been a very, very stupid move, especially after less than three full days working at the school.

And so, Dino apologized quickly, assuring the elder that it had been nothing. Of course, the principal looked reluctant to believe such, but as he couldn't say much else against it, he was forced to drop the subject.

He'd been about to get back into his lecture on tattoos when the bell sounded off, announcing to the two that school was about to start for the day, and quicker than the older male could blink, the Cavallone was _gone_, tossing some hurried promises over his shoulder about how he would take the principal's words into consideration, and then the door was slamming shut behind him, signalling his exit.

Both knew he was lying, of course, but there was nothing to be done about that.

* * *

Maybe he _should_ get fired. Then there would be no fellow teachers to glare at him, for his blond hair and strong accent and the general fact that he was a foreigner. There would be no Kyoya, to distract him. But no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than did Dino shoot it down.

To leave Tsuna's side was foolish; there was no better place to look out for the boy than right there at school. The selfish, possessive, and all around darker side of him was loath to admit that he simply didn't want to lose sight of the skylark, as well.

At the very least, he'd managed to stop himself from asking _everyone_ he saw about the black-haired teen. In fact, aside from Kyoko the day before, he hadn't mentioned the Disciplinary Committee member to anyone.

He wouldn't able to keep the boy's existence secret from Romario forever, though. Hell, he'd be lucky if he managed a week. Of that, Dino was sure.

Kyoya had invaded the blond's mind, to the point where the Cavallone was _sure_ he was forgetting something else, something important; crucial, really, and it wasn't until he rounded the corner and saw Tsuna standing outside the classroom looking somewhat nervous that it clicked into place.

_Holy shit I forgot about the fact that Smokin' Bomb is going to transfer in and attempt to kill Tsuna!_

_How_ it had slipped his mind, no matter how strong Kyoya's influence, Dino would never know, and he offered the brunet endless apologies in his head. With the remembrance of one Gokudera Hayato, the skylark was temporarily banished from the Italian's mind; had he even noticed, the twenty-two-year-old would have thanked God, but instead he brushed the fact aside, instead adopting a confused look on his features as he approached the future Vongola boss.

"Tsu—Sawada-kun?"

His sudden appearance caused the teen to jump in surprise, and he straightened up to attention awkwardly as Dino stood before him, the elder male's head cocked to the side in question.

"Well, Cavallone-_sensei_—what happened to your face?" The teen's attitude changed from "somewhat nervous" to "worried/borderline panicked" faster than the blond could blink, and he found himself amazed at how quickly Tsuna's train of thought had derailed itself upon noticing his teacher's injury.

Bringing his undamaged hand up to the mark in a rather self-conscious manner, Dino offered the brunet a small but wry smile. "Don't worry about it. Just me being clumsy. Anyways, did you need something?" he asked, attempting to distract the fourteen-year-old from his bruised cheek.

It worked, too, if the look of realization that crossed the boy's face was any hint. Tsuna nodded as he got his thoughts back in order, attempting not to fumble over his words as he spoke. "Umm, I didn't get to say so before, but...I wanted to thank you, for yesterday. About Yamamoto, I mean."

The fact that the young teen was now blushing in embarrassment forced Dino to quell the urge to reach out and hug his "little brother," so instead he shook his head rather vehemently in an attempt to clear it, holding his hands up in a gesture of "modesty" at the same time—really, just to stop him from grabbing onto anything.

"You don't have to thank me, Sawada-kun. _I_ should be thanking _you_. _Again_. You're the one who saved Yamamoto-kun." But just as the brown-eyed male had denied the gratitude, so too did Tsuna. "But...Cavallone-_sensei_, I didn't actually _do_ anything."

"No, you really did!" Dino was quick to assure him. "You managed to stop him, or at the very least delay him. If you hadn't managed that, we might be short one baseball star today." The Italian began laughing, but it faded out uneasily once he noticed the expression on Tsuna's face; one of shock and horror.

That was right, the blond reminded himself; just because he had learned to joke about death after being surrounded by it didn't mean others could.

The awkward silence didn't last long as the brunet adopted a thoughtful look on his features. "Oh yes, _sensei_, that reminds me. How _did_ you reach Yamamoto yesterday?"

For a moment after those words left the boy's lips, Dino froze. Mentally, physically—he stopped dead.

But then time resumed and the faux-teacher waved his hand in the air in an obvious "brush off" type manner. "You don't need to worry about that either, Sawada-kun. It was nothing special." Like hell he was going to tell the teen about how he scaled the building.

"Say, isn't class starting soon? Better get inside then!"

No, no, too obvious!, the Italian berated himself. Subject changes were supposed to be subtle, and inwardly the blond winced at the sceptically raised brow, courtesy of one Sawada Tsunayoshi, though outwardly the mafia boss just barely managed not to bite off his tongue while cursing his own stupidity.

But after a long, heart-stopping moment, the brunet hesitated, and then nodded.

"I suppose you're right, _sensei_."

And with that, he entered the mostly empty classroom, leaving Dino to turn around and heave a huge sigh of relief—only to straighten up in shock at the sight of Yamamoto standing in front of him. Or was it behind him? Wait, did that really matter?

"Huh? Cavallone-_sensei_?"

No, it did not, Dino decided, allowing most of his attention to focus on the baseball player, hardly even noticing when his gaze unconsciously wandered to the Japanese boy's arm in its cast and sling.

But at the very least, the older male was relieved to hear that Yamamoto's voice once again had a cheerful, if not confused tone to it. Wait, had he had a question? He was probably wondering why the blond was hovering outside the classroom instead of going in, most likely.

Eyes snapping back up to his student's face, Dino offered forth a slight grin. "Good morning, Yamamoto-kun. I'm glad to see that you're looking well."

A grin spreading across the teen's face in return, Yamamoto nodded, clearly delighted. "Yeah, I feel better too! You were right after all; yesterday the doctor had said there was a big chance my arm wouldn't recover, but I went to the hospital again this morning before school and he changed his mind! I'll be back to playing baseball within two months!"

Dino narrowed his eyes minutely at the statement—after all, he hadn't been present when Yamamoto had revealed such a detail the day before, so of course he hadn't known the doctor had said such a thing; the very thing that had pushed the teen over the edge in the first place. However, he easily hid his anger at the knowledge, and instead allowed his smile to widen, showing that he was honestly happy for his student.

"There, you see? I told you everything was going to be okay!"

Yamamoto's smile, if anything, grew bigger in response, and he bobbed his head slightly in agreement. "I guess you did. Thanks, _sensei_."

And with that, he made his way past Dino into the classroom, leaving the blond to feel a certain amount of pride as he turned around to enter the classroom as well, only to pause as he caught sight of a flash of silver hair out of the corner of his eye. The twenty-two-year-old twisted his head quickly to try and get a better look, but by the time he had, it was long gone.

Dread gripped at the Italian, who had a very bad feeling he knew exactly who he'd just seen; especially when he knew they weren't supposed to be here yet; but at the very least, he consoled himself, nothing had happened – even better, maybe he was just being paranoid! However, the mafia part of his mind didn't hold out much hope for such.

Really, though, there was nothing he could actually do at that moment in time, and so he merely entered the classroom, his unease slowly fading and instead finding a smile tugging at his lips as he noticed an enthusiastic Yamamoto cheerfully talking to a shocked Tsuna; it seemed the baseball lad was thanking the brunet for his efforts yesterday.

Perhaps, if things went well, the two would become good friends – Lord knew the shy boy needed one.

* * *

But despite the small victory that had been achieved in terms of the future of his little brother's social life, Dino's apprehension could not be quelled so easily; if anything, it only deepened over the course of the day—especially once lunchtime came around.

His appetite was hardly as enthusiastic as it had been the day before due to his anxiety over Gokudera, just _knowing_ in his gut that the boy was somewhere nearby, and such a fact was not lost upon his students, who after several minutes of watching him nibble half-heartedly at his _onigiri_ hesitantly asked him if he was feeling alright.

Not wanting to worry them, the blond forced himself to smile and assure them that everything was fine before cramming the remainder of the rice ball into his mouth quickly, much like he had yesterday, and that settled that.

Or at least, it would have if not for the fact that he once again saw that same flash of silver once again in the corner of his eye, this time causing him to turn toward the door but his eyes once more landing upon thin air, no trace of Smokin' Bomb anywhere in sight.

Of _course_ his instinct would have been right, Dino thought to himself as he groaned inwardly, fighting the urge to facedesk in front of his entire class, well aware of the fact that this was not to be the last time he would be seeing Gokudera Hayato that day.

* * *

**Notes:** No real Hibari this chapter, I'm sorry to say – Dino sort of develops a one-track mind set when he appears and that'd basically ruin the plot if that happened this chapter (believe me, I came up with an entire story about the bad ending that would ensue), but rest assured he pops up again next chapter; as does Gokudera (properly this time), and the plot finally starts picking up properly.


End file.
